If you fly directly west from London's airport in what United States city will you land?

Answer 1

Answer #1:

None !

Due west from London's Heathrow airport takes you past the north coast of Newfoundland.

Then across Canada, The first airport that you could land at is at Moosonee, Ontario, Canada.

It is about 19 km up the Moose River from James Bay.

London's latitude 51,52.

Moosonee's latitude 51,27

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Answer #2:

The conclusion in Answer #1 is fundamentally correct, but the discussion doesn't go

far enough.

First of all, I have to point out that technically, you should have been asked to

specify which 'London' you're referring to, and if it were in fact the one in the UK,

then you should have been asked to specify whether you're planning on taking off

from Heathrow, Blackbush, London City, Biggin Hill, Luton, Farnborough, Oxford,

Rochester, Southampton, Stansted, Air Parker/Booker, Gatwick, Shoreham, or

London Southend airport.

But we'll stick with Heathrow, in London UK.

There IS, in fact, US territory to be found due west of Heathrow, but not much of it.

It's Amchitka Island, in the Aleutian chain southwest of the Alaskan mainland.

There's an airport on the island, but no city. Amchitka was populated for more than

2,500 years by the Aleut people, but has had no permanent population since 1832.

The island has been part of the United States since the Alaska Purchse of 1867.

During World War II, it was used as an airfield by US forces in the Aleutian Islands

Campaign. Amchitka was selected by the US Atomic Energy Commission to be the

site for underground detonations of nuclear weapons. Three such tests were

carried out: an 80-kiloton blast in 1965, a 1-megaton blast in 1969, and a 5-MT in

1971, the largest underground test ever conducted by the United States. Amchitka

is no longer used for nuclear testing, but is still monitored for the leakage of

radioactive materials.

-- If you take off from Heathrow and fly due west, then the flight to Amchitka Airport

is about 7,764 miles.

-- If you take of from Heathrow and fly due EAST instead, then the flight is 65 miles shorter.

-- If you have a competent navigator along for the ride, you're in luck. He'll remind you

that the shortest way to get where you're going on Earth is the "great circle route".

From Heathrow to Amchitka, that means departing on a heading almost due NORTH,

and taking the 'shortcut' over the top. Do that, and the trip is only 5,347 miles.